Welcoming jingle hits a sour note when it comes to unwanted visitors

Your every smile, your every hello, every hand that you lend, you make a difference.

This Hong Kong Tourism Commission theme song was once a hit, thanks to Canto-pop star George Lam Chi-cheung. He was appointed to be the city's hospitality ambassador to help promote tourism.

The song has quietly faded away over the past few years. Is it a sign that we now have more than enough tourists?

Whatever the answer, a recent train ride to the border convinced me we do have too many visitors who are parallel traders.

The moment my friend and I arrived at Sheung Shui we saw big crowds packed in and around the station. Long queues of parallel traders almost besieged the station with piles of milk powder, diapers and iPads. So much for the much-publicised crackdown on such activity just before the New Year.

In fact, the operators have now spread their tentacles from Sheung Shui to inner satellite towns like Tai Po and Sha Tin. No wonder calls for more stringent border control are getting louder.

Surprisingly, Shenzhen Mayor Xu Qin recently rejected the idea that his city should restrict issuing "multi-entry" visas to its residents. He claimed that "the [parallel trading] situation has been improved" after joint efforts from both sides.